BOSTON & SAO PAULO--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- SapientNitro, part of Sapient (NAS: SAPE) , today announced it has named Marcelo Sant'Iago as vice president, business development for Latin America. The appointment follows SapientNitro's extension into Latin America earlier this year with the acquisition of celebrated, Brazil-based digital agency, iThink. Sant'Iago will report to SapientNitro's chief operating officer, Preston Bradford, and is charged with leading the agency's growth across the region.

"Marcelo's deep industry expertise and extensive knowledge of Latin America will be an invaluable addition as we continue our growth in this highly strategic and rapidly evolving market," said Alan J. Herrick, president and CEO, Sapient. "His track record of helping global brands tap into the opportunities in the region will enable us to continue to meet growing client demand for innovative experiences around brand, digital and commerce that can be leveraged across strategic markets in every part of the world."

Sant'Iago brings more than two decades of experience creating growth opportunities for top-tier brands in Latin America. Prior to joining SapientNitro, Sant'Iago served as managing partner at MBreak Comunicação, a business consultancy in Sao Paulo that advised companies looking to expand in the Brazilian marketplace. Before that, he served as head of business development at RealMedia, where he spearheaded partnerships with Google, Pubmatic and Rightmedia. Sant'Iago also served as general manager of MídiaClick, the first performance-based marketing agency in Brazil. He worked closely with the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB) in the USA to create the Brazilian chapter, where he served as president for two terms. In addition, Sant'Iago has held senior executive positions at JWT and iProspect Brazil.

"SapientNitro is fundamentally redefining what it means to be an agency. Its unique integration of creative, brand and technology expertise, delivered under one global P&L, creates game-changing success for clients looking to transform the way their brands engage consumers," said Sant'Iago. "In Latin America, we have digital in our veins. The consumer has been ready for a new engagement model for a while now - one that creates multi-dimensional experience spaces - and SapientNitro is equipped to help brands deliver it."

Sant'Iago is responsible for leading the agency's growth across Latin America, including driving new business and expanding SapientNitro's existing global accounts that will benefit from the agency's integrated capabilities in the region.

"As one of the most influential leaders in advertising in Latin America, Marcelo will be instrumental in extending our growth in Brazil and across the region," said Marcelo Tripoli, chief executive officer of SapientNitro iThink. "His history of success with some of the world's leading brands will also help us identify new ways to collaborate with and leverage the strength of the global SapientNitro team for the benefit of clients looking to create engaging interactions with their always-on consumers in this market."

SapientNitro is currently working with many multi-national clients in Latin America through its operations in Sao Paulo and Miami, including Castrol, Johnson & Johnson, Kraft, Google and Samsung.

About SapientNitro

SapientNitroSM, part of Sapient® (NAS: SAPE) , is a new breed of agency redefining storytelling for an always-on world. We're changing the way our clients engage today's connected consumers by uniquely creating never-ending stories across brand communications, digital engagement, and omni-channel commerce. We call it Storyscaping, where art and imagination meet the power and scale of systems thinking.

SapientNitro's Idea Engineers represent a connected powerhouse of creative, brand and technology expertise - one global team collaborating across disciplines, perspectives and continents to create game-changing success for our Global 1000 clients. We partner with industry-leading clients such as Chrysler, Citi, The Coca-Cola Company, Lufthansa, Target, and Vodafone, in 31 cities across The Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific.